The present invention relates electronic user identification, and more specifically, to an apparatus and method for an authenticated electronic userid.
Electronic mail, or xe2x80x9ce-mailxe2x80x9d has become one of the most popular forms of point-to-point communication for people with access to the Internet. An e-mail system typically comprises a database server, a local area network (LAN) and/or a modem bank, and an internet gateway. A user, who communicates with others via e-mail is typically given a user identification, or xe2x80x9cuseridxe2x80x9d that permanently and uniquely identifies that user with the database server. The server typically has its own identity too, for example, the server is sometimes referred to as a host and the identity is called a xe2x80x9chost namexe2x80x9d, or in some circles, a xe2x80x9cdomain name.xe2x80x9d When a user desires to check their e-mail, the user logs onto the e-mail system and e-mail messages are displayed on a terminal device or personal computer. A great advantage of e-mail over traditional mail, which accounts, in part, for its surge in popularity, is that messages can be delivered significantly faster, messages can be easily distributed to significantly more recipients, and it is, generally, less expensive for the user than regular mail, or xe2x80x9csnail mail.xe2x80x9d
However, the very properties which make e-mail so appealing over snail mail to a regular user can also create annoyances. The low cost, the ability for wide distribution and speed of e-mail make it particularly attractive to unsolicited bulk e-mail advertisers. Unsolicited bulk e-mail (xe2x80x9cUBExe2x80x9d) has fast become the advertising medium of choice for startup and sham companies looking to quickly and cheaply advertise their wares to a large audience. Frequently, such companies employ an application called a robot that searches electronic databases on the Internet (e.g., Yahoo, Lycos, AltaVista, etc.) for certain keywords that identify the demographics of a target market. From the database xe2x80x9chitsxe2x80x9d, a list of uniform resource locators (xe2x80x9cURLsxe2x80x9d) for both websites and bulletin boards is compiled. The robot then methodically loads and scans the hypertext markup language source (xe2x80x9chtmlxe2x80x9d) or ASCII text pages identified by the URLs and harvests e-mail addresses. The e-mail addresses are then added into a distribution list to which e-mail advertisements, or UBE messages, are spooled out.
The ease with which e-mail addresses can be harvested not only from the various Internet search engines, but also from the xe2x80x9cto:xe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cfrom:xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccc:xe2x80x9d fields in an e-mail messages (e.g., a joke circulating the internet could have been forwarded to hundreds of unique e-mail addresses) and newsgroups has caused a proliferation of UBE. Eventually, these messages litter the e-mail of a user""s xe2x80x9cinboxxe2x80x9d and the user must sift and sort the junk messages from the important messages.
Another problem associated with the traditional e-mail address paradigm is that a user may only wish to communicate once, or on a per-reply basis with another user. Whereas in trusted communications, such as inter-organization and personal communications, a single address is desired, in other scenarios, a restricted use e-mail address is desired. For example, an individual may only desire a single or temporary communication with a particular user, rather than giving the particular user a permanent e-mail address.
Known examples of filtering UBE messages and other non-trusted communications include querying incoming messages for certain unwanted sender addresses (e.g., the sender""s e-mail address) and/or contextual keywords or phrases in the message body. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,648, invented by Canale et al., which discloses such a system. Similarly, e-mail messages from known UBE sender domain names can be explicitly blocked.
However, a problem with query and filter techniques is that the e-mail addresses must often be explicitly defined each time a new bulk mailer sends UBE. Further still, a domain name (as well as the e-mail address) is easily manipulated or xe2x80x9cspoofedxe2x80x9d by the originating bulk mailer. For example, the America On-Line xe2x80x9cAOLxe2x80x9d service domain name is often mimicked because many e-mail users will not block mail from the xe2x80x9caol.comxe2x80x9d host because they know many people who subscribe to the AOL service. Furthermore, contextual query and filter techniques are prone to error and are difficult, if not impossible to setup correctly. Certainly, legitimate and potentially important messages will slip through the cracks with such systems.
Thus, there is a need for a unique method and apparatus for authenticating electronic messages that is capable of controlling UBE and other forms of electronic messages that clutter communication applications such as electronic mail.
An apparatus and method for an authenticated electronic userid is provided. According to one embodiment, an electronic message system generates an authenticated electronic userid for a local user that comprises an adapted digital signature. The adapted digital signature, with other identifiers, provides temporary or restricted electronic message privileges to a remote user.
According to one embodiment, the adapted digital signature grants privileges to a particular remote user for access to a single local user on the message system. However, according to another embodiment, the adapted digital signature grants privileges to a number of remote users from a particular host for access to one or more local users on the message system.
In one embodiment, a process for creating an authenticated electronic userid comprises the acts of generating an adapted digital signature based on an originator key and a portion of a remote userid, and concatenating the adapted digital signature with originator information to form the authenticated electronic userid.
In another embodiment, a process for authenticating an adapted digital signature comprises the acts of extracting a local userid and remote user information from an incoming electronic message; comparing the local userid to a list of local users; verifying the adapted digital signature is valid; and then granting access to an electronic service if the adapted digital signature is valid.
As a result of the techniques described herein, UBE and other forms of unsolicited or undesired electronic messages are filtered in a more controlled manner than prior methods, and a local user will not need to remove UBE messages from their messaging application.